Hitting the Ground Crawling

Last week I said I was ready to “hit the ground running” now that I’d landed back in Birmingham, but that’s easier said than done (how many cliches did I just use in that sentence? Three? Yeesh. Anyway…). Rounding up like-minded musicians is going a little slowly, and I will probably delay the start of the writing workshop if I don’t get a little more interest soon. And even what I should be mostly doing, just writing–working on new stories and on my next book–is harder to focus in on than I expected. I’ve gotten some work done, but it’s not coming easily at all. I guess I’m still settling in, figuring out what my routine is going to be.

And establishing myself with whatever literary/music/arts community there is here is obviously going to take more than just showing up and saying, “Hey look at me. I lived in New York and I wrote two books.” Generally, I’ve found that people here have a low tolerance for bullshitting, not that that’s what I’m trying to get away with, but I feel like I have to do something a little more public and a little more spectacular than anything I’ve done so far. The right idea is still germinating.

I also haven’t found my hang out spot. Bottletree is perfectly fine for seeing bands and even for brunch, but I don’t get the sense that this is a place where the revolution is being planned. I need more friends with a lot of energy and too much time on their hands. So things are off to a slower start than I’d like, and I’m impatient. And I’m open to suggestions.